Your Luck Hasnt Run Out Yet: ONE Last Month of PA Cash (GA) Benefits Granted

An 11th-hour adjustment will give Pennsylvania recipients of a soon-to-close public welfare program one more month of benefits.

The state budget will eliminate the general assistance program, which provides about $200 a month in cash assistance to about 70,000 very low-income clients. About half live in Philadelphia.

It was originally slated to shut down on the start of the new fiscal year, which begins Sunday.

But now, recipients will collect benefits until Aug. 1.

Gov. Tom Corbett says his administration is working on connecting those in need to other benefit programs.

“From discussions with our staff, we believe that some people probably are not exercising access to certain areas that they might have access to,” he said Friday.

One Democratic senator says the reason for the extension is pressure from constituents and service providers who received a letter that the cash benefits would end abruptly in July.

“My district is around the corner from a welfare office, so you know, within two blocks, folks would come into district offices of mine, not just mine, but everyone’s, in a panic,” says Sen. Vince Hughes, D-Philadelphia.

A Department of Public Welfare spokeswoman says that letter was sent in error.

5 comments

how can you people sit there and say the honeymoon is over do you not realize what the needs of the people are my husband is waiting on word from an appeals council for 5 months now cause he can not work you are punshing all of the good people who use the money for good because of what the bad people do we do not drink smoke do drugs or any of that stuff we use that money for perscription drugs that we desperarately need and other thinks such as transpotation for doc appts and specialists so do not say the honeymoon is over because if you never walked in our shoes or any poor people shoes do not Judge it is not your place to do so

I have walked miles in the shoes you speak of. While I do not pass judgement on you and those like you, I do know what the fact is (and you agreed with me) that the majority of those in Pennsylvania who used to receive cash assistance were misappropriating the funds on nonsense like hair weave, vacations, liquor, marijuana, (which is ok if you can afford it), deadly Chinese food, etc.

Those are the people who are being targeted by this grave injustice that is taking place. I did not once say that I agreed with the decision being made nor do I advocate starving people to death to punish a few, but in Amerikkka the majority rules and in this case the majority rules the minority out of cash assistance.

Also, your husband not being able to work is a matter of disability which is NOT being discontinued. The cash assistance program was never meant to be permanent. It was a temporary solution like unemployment or any other state funded program.

how can you people sit there and say the honeymoon is over do you not realize what the needs of the people are my husband is waiting on word from an appeals council for 5 months now cause he can not work you are punshing all of the good people who use the money for good because of what the bad people do we do not drink smoke do drugs or any of that stuff we use that money for perscription drugs that we desperarately need and other thinks such as transpotation for doc appts and specialists so do not say the honeymoon is over because if you never walked in our shoes or any poor people shoes do not Judge it is not your place to do so